The Summer He Came Home (26 page)

Maggie walked past Cain and enveloped her son. “I’m fine, honey.”

“Is Cain staying for supper?”

Maggie kept her head lowered and whispered, “No. Cain was just leaving.”

Cain’s mouth thinned at her words, but he remained silent. No sense in causing a scene in front of Michael. That would only alienate her more, and this sure as hell wasn’t the kid’s problem.

“Why?” He wriggled out of his mother’s arms and looked up at Cain, his expression serious. “Are you guys having a fight?”

He clasped the kid on his shoulder. Forced a smile. “I gotta run buddy, but we’re still on for Saturday, right?”

“I think so.” Michael glanced at his mother. “I want to play.”

Maggie nodded and Cain winked. “Good, I’ll see you then.”

He let himself out the back gate even though everything inside him screamed that he should stay and hash things out. But what was the point? Maggie needed to cool off, and hopefully she’d come around tomorrow.

He hopped into his truck and sat there for a long time, his thoughts whirling. What the hell had just happened? When Cain finally fired up the engine, it was dark. The rain had stopped, though everything was misted in a film of slick water.

He glanced in his rearview mirror. Fog crept along the road, and it mingled with the steam that rose in the air from the still-hot blacktop. The storm had brought a wave of cold air, and it had cooled things down considerably, though the surface still held the sun’s heat. Slowly he backed out of Maggie’s driveway and headed toward the main drag, which would take him back to the lake.

He felt empty, confused, and pissed off.

What a cliché. It had all the makings of a number one fucking hit.

Maggie watched the glowing red of Cain’s taillights disappear, and though he was finally gone, it did nothing to make her feel better. She stepped back and let the silky fabric of the window covering fall back into place.

Her chest hurt. Her head. Her heart.
Everything
hurt.

All she felt was sadness. Incredible, bone-crushing sadness. The anger was still there, but it was burrowed beneath her pain and the impending feeling of doom.

In the space of a few hours her life had been turned upside down yet again, and this time there was no one to blame but herself. She’d known Cain Black was trouble the moment she laid eyes on him.

She should never have let him in.

And now Michael was going to pay for her mistakes, for her weakness and loneliness. For her selfish need to be loved by a man.

Maggie closed her eyes and tried to ignore the fact that she’d even thought of the word
love
in regard to Cain.

“Did Cain finally leave?”

Maggie moved away from the window and nodded at Raine. Her body felt like it was two steps behind. Like she was moving out of sync.

There was too much going on in her brain—thoughts of plans and backup plans—of leaving and getting as far away from Crystal Lake as she could. She slid into the large purple and green plaid chair that was kitty-corner to the sofa and picked at a bit of stuffing that had escaped the seam along the armrest.

Raine sat with feet curled beneath her, piping-hot cup of tea in her hands. Her dark hair was pinned loosely atop her head, and she was dressed in ratty clothes—oversized T-shirt and loose track pants—that were splattered in beige and teal splotches of color. It was something Maggie hadn’t noticed until now.

Raine pointed toward the small table beside Maggie’s chair. “I brought you a tea as well.”

Maggie scooped the warm mug into her hands and took a sip, relishing the heat as it slid over her tongue. But still she shivered. She knew it was going to take a lot more than a warm drink to drive away the stark cold inside her body.

“Have you been painting?” she asked, thinking the question sounded lame and desperate—but she so needed a bit of normal right now.

Raine frowned, took a sip of tea, and settled into the sofa. “Are we really going to talk about my sad attempt to freshen up the spare room?”

Maggie stared at the brunette but remained silent.

Raine’s expression softened. “I’d like to know what’s going on in that brain of yours, because I can see the wheels spinning, and I’ll be honest, Maggie, it’s kinda scaring me.” Raine took another sip of her tea and leaned forward. “It’s never good to react to a situation when you’re upset. Believe me, I know.”

Maggie said nothing, because deep down, Raine was right. She just wished she didn’t feel like she was already behind. That she needed to be gone from Crystal Lake like yesterday.

“You can’t dump Cain because some pervert snapped a few pictures of you guys together.”

“This isn’t about Cain.”

“No?” Raine settled back into the sofa. “What’s it about, then?” Her tone was conversational, but the glint of interest was sharp.

Maggie stared down into her teacup. Steam rose from the surface, but it did nothing to thaw the ice in her veins. She grasped the cup tighter, so tight her knuckles cracked and her skin burned from the heat. She wanted to smash it against a wall. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, pull her hair out, and break something.

Mostly, she just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

She did none of those things. Instead she looked Raine in the eye and spoke. “I’m leaving town.”

“Leaving town?” Raine sputtered. She’d obviously not been expecting to hear that. She wiped a few drops of tea off her chin. “What do you mean? To hide out? Where will you go? Shit, Maggie, if you really feel the need to get some quiet over the next couple of days, come and stay with me.”

“Thanks for the offer, Raine, but that’s not what I meant.” Maggie ran fingers across her forehead and winced as pain lashed across her skull. She was well on her way to a lovely migraine.

“You don’t understand. As soon as I can, probably Saturday afternoon, Michael and I are leaving Crystal Lake, and we’re not coming back. I should leave tomorrow, but I can’t take Saturday away from my son.”

Raine was shocked. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She took a sip of tea, her eyes never leaving Maggie, and when she spoke her voice was tremulous.

“But that doesn’t even make sense. Don’t you think you’re overreacting? Just a little bit?”

Maggie gazed across the room at Raine. An image of Dante—his face twisted in rage, his skin tight, and his fists flying—crossed her vision, and she blinked rapidly to clear the image. She shook her head. “No, I’m not overreacting.”

Raine studied her in silence for several long moments. “What are you not telling me, Maggie?”

Maggie’s eyes shifted to just beyond Raine. She heard the shower running and knew that Michael would be a while. Could she trust Raine? Would it be all right to share some of this burden and confide in a friend?

A shudder racked her frame, and Maggie realized her clothes were still damp, from being outside and so was her hair. She leaned over and grabbed the throw blanket off the corner of the sofa and wrapped it around her shoulders. She couldn’t get sick. There was too much to do.

“I didn’t come to Crystal Lake because I’d planned on it—because I had family close by or friends here. I’d never heard of this place until…” She exhaled and paused for a second. “I let Michael choose our destination, and do you want to know how we did that?”

Raine nodded slowly but remained silent.

“He closed his eyes and pointed at a map. A travel map I took from his father’s car. It was a tiny red dot in a sea of dots, but there it was, Crystal Lake.
That’s
why we came here. I figured if we chose some random town, it would make it that much harder for us to be discovered.”

Maggie saw the moment as if it were yesterday. The police had just taken Dante away, and she knew her window of opportunity was small. His daddy’s money would have him out by noon the next day.

Michael’s finger had directed their fate, and they’d left Savannah within the hour, armed with two large bags of clothes and the stash of cash she’d been hoarding for the last few years.

“Who are you running from?”

Maggie sighed and swirled the liquid around in her cup. So many confessions had fallen from her lips in the last few days.

“Maggie?” Raine prodded.

“My husband, Michael’s father.”

Silence greeted her admission, and Maggie glanced up into Raine’s eyes. They were colored dark with concern.

“So, this man is dangerous?”

Maggie’s eyes narrowed and it was hard for her to stay calm. “If he finds me he will take Michael away, and there is no way in hell that I’ll allow Dante anywhere near my child.”

“Maggie. It doesn’t have to be that way. He can’t just take your child away, especially if he’s been”—Raine’s voice softened—“abusive toward you or Michael.”

“You don’t understand.” Maggie’s words were bitter. “Dante’s family is powerful, well established. They have a lot of money. I have nothing to fight them with.”

“You’ll never belong to anyone else, bitch. When I get out of here, I’m going to make sure you understand just how much you belong to me. And don’t think of running. That didn’t work out so well for you last time.”

He
leaned
in
close. She could feel the heat of his breath against her cheek, and her gut roiled, full of nausea.

“Because if you do, I will find you and I’ll make sure your son never sees you again. You’re nothing but trash, Maggie. Garbage that I rescued from the gutter. Remember that. What judge would award custody of that little snot-nosed bastard to someone like you? An uneducated, pathetic excuse for a woman?”

Dante’s words echoed in her mind, his voice crystal clear as if he stood beside the chair, whispering his threats into her ear.

“Maggie, are you all right? You’re as white as a ghost.”

She shook the darkness from her mind and focused on Raine. “No, I’m not all right. Nothing about this situation is right.” She shot up from the chair and threw the throw blanket behind her. “Dante is a monster. One who ruled my life for almost ten years, until I finally…” Her eyes filled with tears as the memories of that last night washed over her.

“What happened, Maggie?” Raine asked gently. “What made you leave?”

She bit her lip, let the anger inside build, and it filled her with power. “He went after my child, that’s what happened. I wasn’t enough to take the edge off anymore, and he went after Michael.” Angrily Maggie wiped moisture from her eyes. “I’m sickened at the pathetic, weak person that I was. I can’t believe that I let him tell me what to wear, where to go, what to make for dinner. He dictated every minute of my life.”

Maggie crossed to the window once more and looked into the darkness. “I know this is going to sound weird, but I guess in a way I should thank him.”

Raine set her cup down and crossed to where she stood. She threaded her arm through Maggie’s. The comfort, the soft touch, did wonders, and Maggie welcomed the bit of peace that came with it.

“Why would you want to thank him?” Raine asked quietly.

“I wasn’t a strong person back then, and as awful as it sounds, if he hadn’t taken a run at Michael—” Her voice broke, and she took a second. “If he hadn’t come after Michael, I might still be there.”

“Whatever reason you had for leaving doesn’t matter, Maggie. What does matter is that you
did
. You found the strength to take your son out of a bad situation, and you started all over in a town where you knew no one.” Raine’s arms enveloped Maggie into a hug. “That is not the description of a weak soul. That is a person with balls. Huge, freaking elephant balls.”

“Well, I’m going to need those balls.” Maggie replied.

“Maggie,
stay
. And if he shows up, fight him. You’ve come this far. If you leave, that just means he’s won. Why would you let him win?”

She opened her mouth to retort, but Raine cut her off.

“I know you’re scared, but you have friends here. A lot of friends who will do anything for you. And then there’s Cain. I’m sure he’d love the chance to kick your ex’s ass.”

Maggie took a step back. Okay. Raine had lost her marbles. “I’ve known Cain for not more than a month. Why the hell would he want to get involved in my mess?” She snorted. “Because we’re sleeping together? That’s ridiculous.”

Raine smiled and shook her head. “Of course not.” Her grin widened. “It’s simple. He loves you.”

Maggie stared at Raine in shock, and when she finally found her voice, several seconds had ticked by. “You’re crazy. He’s never…we’ve never…” She moved away, her eyes drawn to the darkness outside.

We’ve never said those words.
She’d never
allowed
herself to go there, to even consider the intensity of her feelings and what they meant.

“I’m not crazy.” Raine stood beside her again, her dark eyes filled with a sadness that wasn’t there before. “I see the way he looks at you. The way he touches you as if you belong to him. The way he gets annoyed when Jake or Mac take up too much of your time. He might not even realize it yet, but he does love you, and you feel the same way.”

“I don’t…we barely know each other. Love takes time, and besides…” Maggie needed her to understand. “It doesn’t
matter
. Cain isn’t part of this equation. I’m leaving. It’s my only option.”

Maggie’s watched the petite brunette as she leaned against the sofa and crossed her arms across her chest.

“You can’t measure love by time, it doesn’t work that way. You can’t predict when or who or when…” Raine’s eyes widened and Maggie saw the pain reflected in their depths. “It just is.” A shimmer of tears glistened at the edges, and Raine wiped them away impatiently. “It can last a lifetime if you’re lucky. Or it can last a week. It doesn’t matter, so long as that one moment, that
special
moment
in time that existed just for the two of you is the most amazing, crazy, awful, scary, and wonderful moment ever.”

Maggie’s eyes misted as she listened to Raine. She knew the young widow was talking about Jesse. Her loss was still so fresh, her pain palpable.

“You don’t know how lucky you are, Maggie. To have that chance. To matter to someone.”

The two of them stared at each other in silence until Michael appeared. He was dressed in his Batman pajamas, his hair slicked back and skin glowing from the shower. He stifled a yawn, and it was obvious that he’d had a full day.

“Go to bed, honey, I’ll be in shortly to kiss you good night.”

“No TV?”

Maggie shook her head and pointed to the hall. “No.”

“Okay.” He smiled at them. “Night, Raine.”

He disappeared back down the hall, and Maggie followed Raine onto the porch. The night lay heavy against everything, its dark embrace full of a cool freshness that was a relief from the heat of the last few days.

Crickets chirped, their excited chatter echoing from inside the hidden places along the ground, and in the distance voices drifted on the breeze.

“Raine, you can’t tell anyone what I just shared with you.” Maggie’s eyes pleaded. “Promise me.”

“I won’t.” Raine hugged her tightly and then whispered into her ear. “But be smart. Listen to what I said. Don’t throw away a future with Cain until you’ve talked to him. Because if you leave without sorting things out, the regret will eat you up. Maybe not right away, but trust me, you won’t escape it. You’ll never know what could have been, and you
will
break his heart as well as your own.”

Raine pulled away, her expression dead serious. “And coming from someone whose heart has been ripped out of her chest…I gotta say, that would be tragic.”